MilometryThe Dutch allowance is 25 cents a kilometre, and what untaxed actually means
One flat figure, no threshold, and the same number whether you are employed or self-employed. The simplest system in Europe, and the narrowest safety net.
Allgemeine Information, keine Beratung. Als allgemeine Information verfasst und nach unserem Wissen korrekt am 27. September 2026. Steuerregeln ändern sich, und wie sie gelten, hängt von deinen Umständen ab. Dies ist keine Steuer-, Rechts- oder Finanzberatung: Frag eine Steuerberaterin, einen Steuerberater oder das Finanzamt, bevor du dich darauf verlässt.
The Dutch untaxed travel allowance is 25 cents a kilometre for 2026. It was 23 cents in 2024 and 2025. The Belastingdienst set out the rise to 25 cents on 25 June 2026, backdated to 1 January 2026, so employers who paid 23 cents earlier in the year can pay the extra 2 cents a kilometre untaxed after the event.
What untaxed means here
The Dutch mechanism for employees is a payroll one. Your employer may pay you up to the figure per kilometre without deducting tax or social contributions. Pay above it and the excess is treated as salary. It covers the commute as well as business journeys, which is a difference from Britain, where ordinary commuting is outside the system.
So the number is a ceiling on tax free reimbursement, not an entitlement. An employer who pays less is not breaking any rule, and an employer who pays nothing is not either. What the figure governs is the tax treatment of whatever they do pay.
The same figure serves as the per kilometre deduction for the self-employed using a privately owned vehicle for business, and nothing else, not fuel, insurance, tolls or parking, is deducted on top. That is a tidiness other systems do not manage. In Britain the employee and the sole trader arrive at 55p by two different routes with different names.
No threshold, no banding
There is no Dutch equivalent of the 10,000 mile line. Every kilometre is worth the same, all year.
This makes the Dutch log about as simple as any system covered here. You never need to know your running total to value a journey, the rate does not depend on your car, and the year boundary only decides which year's figure applies.
The trade is that a flat rate cannot be generous to everybody. It is set around an average, and a driver whose real costs are above average absorbs the difference with no mechanism to recover it.
The narrow safety net
This is the difference that matters most for anyone arriving from Britain.
If a British employer reimburses below the approved rate, the employee can claim tax relief on the shortfall, called Mileage Allowance Relief, through Self Assessment or a P87. The relief is worth the shortfall multiplied by the employee's tax rate. It is a genuine backstop, and it is why the British system is more generous to employees than the headline rate suggests.
The Netherlands has no direct equivalent. If your employer pays 15 cents against a ceiling of 25, the 10 cent gap is simply a cost you carry. The ceiling protects the tax treatment of what you are paid; it does not oblige anyone to pay it, and it does not give you relief on the difference.
At about 85p to the euro, 25 cents a kilometre is roughly 34p a mile. Britain's approved rate is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p after that, for journeys from 6 April 2026.
| Netherlands | UK | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | 25 cents per km, flat (from 1 January 2026) | 55p per mile, then 25p (from 6 April 2026) |
| Threshold | None | 10,000 miles |
| Year | Calendar | From 6 April |
| Commute | Covered by the same untaxed allowance | Not claimable |
| Employed and self-employed | Same figure | Same rates, reached by different routes |
| Employee relief on a shortfall | No | Yes, Mileage Allowance Relief |
| Passenger supplement | None | Up to 5p per passenger mile, if the employer pays it |
Why the gap is worth logging anyway
Since there is no relief on the shortfall, it is tempting to conclude there is no point measuring it. The opposite is true.
The gap between what a kilometre costs you and what you are reimbursed is the number that tells you whether a job, a route or a car is covering its costs. It is invisible unless something is recording both halves, and it is the number to take into a conversation about pay or a change of vehicle.
Milometry has a Dutch scheme built in at 25 cents a kilometre, so a driver on it sees kilometres, euros and the untaxed figure, and can record what their employer actually pays alongside it.
Sources
- Verhoging onbelaste kilometervergoeding: hoe verwerkt u dit in de loonaangifte? (Belastingdienst, 25 June 2026)
- Zakelijk gebruik privévervoermiddel 2026 (Belastingdienst)
- Maximale kilometervergoeding van uw werkgever (Rijksoverheid)
- Increasing mileage rates (HMRC policy paper), for the British comparison
- Claim tax relief for your job expenses: vehicles you use for work (HMRC)
General information for drivers in the Netherlands and the UK, not tax advice. The untaxed figure is revised: check the current amount with the Belastingdienst.
